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What’s To Be Done About Angel Garcia?

Posted on 01/24/2017

What’s To Be Done About Angel Garcia?
By: Sean Crose

What can be done with the likes of Angel Garcia? The father and trainer of WBC welterweight champ Danny Garcia has proven himself to be a menace to the sport of boxing. Sure, you can say the word menace is hyperbole, but how else to explain a man who disrupts a major press conference with vitriol and behavior that, to the untrained eye at least, appears less than stable? That’s the thing about the elder Garcia – he’s either a complete ass or he’s unstable. There really is no in-between. And frankly, neither option is acceptable in the public sphere.

Truth be told, it’s painful to write about the man in this age of political correctness run amok. At a time when there is a serious belief that the First Amendment is a bad thing instead of the key to freedom it is, the last thing reasonable people should want to do is criticize someone for speaking out. Yet the elder Garcia gives us no choice. Yes, he has the right to say what he wants. No one (or, at least not this author) is arguing that fact. Yet people also have a First Amendment right to call him out for acting in a wildly inappropriate manner. And yeah, the WBC has a right to ban the man from further press conferences, as well as from his son’s corner in WBC sanctioned fights.

In all honesty, I’m still not sure exactly what Garcia was getting at when he went wild at last week’s press conference to announce the welterweight title unifier between his son and the undefeated Keith Thurman. Nor do I know if the man made sense or not. I heard a lot of derogatory stuff, though. I also saw the guy totally obliterate a major press conference that, for all intents and purposes, should have been very good for boxing. Garcia-Thurman is a major bout to be aired on network television in primetime, after all. In other words, it’s just what boxing needs.

What boxing most certainly doesn’t need is a major participant, peripheral or not, engaging in antisocial behavior in a public setting. Mike Tyson’s well documented meltdown hurt the sport – believe it. While the “Iron Mike” of the late 80s through early 90s brought the sport intense interest, the later, ear-biting, vile talking Tyson turned fans off. In other words, the sport can’t afford an unhinged Angel Garcia. Sanctioning bodies, networks and even analysts have to be responsible here.

This, of course, doesn’t mean that things like trash talk need to go by the way side. You don’t have to be a fan of what used to be called talking smack to understand its effectiveness. Trash talk is, after all, psychological warfare. And psychological warfare has been a part of boxing since at least 1890s, when it was practiced by “Gentleman Jim” Corbett. There’s a difference, though, between trash talk and legitimately chaotic behavior. Boxing is chaotic enough. If anything, more order is needed, not less. If he’s able to appreciate the difference, the senior Garcia should grasp the fact that hyping a fight and pissing off decent society are two entirely different things.

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It was meant to be a celebration of a big deal. For WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia was at a press conference with his team to announce an upcoming bout with WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman live from the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn on CBS March 4th. That, friends, is quite the news, for this will be the biggest match to hit “free” television since before Larry Holmes faced Carl Williams over thirty years ago. People are already saying the ratings for the fight might be through the roof for a boxing match. In other words, there’s excitement in the air.

Unfortunately, Garcia’s father and trainer, Angel Garcia went on a nearly incoherent rant while Keith Thurman was at the mic. Even before then, however, he had made his presence known by announcing that “two white boys and a hippie” couldn’t defeat his son in the ring (clearly, he was referring to the free spirited Thurman and his team). That edgy bit of PR, however, was nothing compared to what he had in store seconds later. Not since the meltdown of Mike Tyson has this particular writer seen anything like it. Think Conor McGregor in what might be a near psychotic rage and you get the general idea.

In truth, I don’t even really know what the elder Garcia said. The acoustics were all off at the Barclay’s, where the press conference was being held, to begin with. Angel’s hoarse voice yelling and antagonizing through the sound system made the words he was uttering a bit hard to decipher. The “N Word” was mentioned, as, I think, were some words on immigration. The elder Garcia also had what seemed to be some pro American things to say, though, again, I’m not sure what. Indeed, I don’t even know if the words he used to reference African Americans and immigrants were meant to be derogatory. I’m not trying to play nice here. I simply don’t know what the hell the guy was ranting about.

To be sure, the entire thing was completely off the wall. Boxing is a most decidedly un-PC sport. It’s one of the great things about it. Genuine respect can generally be found behind off the cuff bluster. That’s something boxing fans understand and appreciate. Crazed antagonism of the kind showed by Angel Garcia today, however, isn’t called for or needed. The dude really needs to chill out.

The Sands Bethlehem Events Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania was the host site for tonight’s broadcast of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Fox Sports 1.

Three bouts were televised tonight, and the opening bout was between Carlos Gongora (5-0) and Ronald Mixon (7-0) in the light heavyweight division.

Mixon had a three inch in reach and height on Gongora, but both boxers were the same age. Gongora was a former two time Olympian for Ecuador.

Both boxers tried to feel each other out in the opening minute of the round, but Gongora was able to land a hard straight left hand by the ropes that momentarily stunned Mixon. Gongora followed that up with another straight left hand seconds later and Mixon dropped to the mat.

Mixon struggled to get back to his feet, but he was still clearly shot and struggled to even get to his knees. The referee waived off the fight 1:16 of the first round, giving Gongora a TKO victory.

The next bout was between Kareem Martin (8-0-1) and David Grayton (14-1) in the welterweight division.

Martin and Grayton were former sparring partners and they wasted no time in going after each other. Martin was the better defensive boxer and landed cleaner and harder counters. Grayton, a southpaw, had difficulty avoiding the counter rights of Martin.

Martin’s counter punching was on point in the second round and he was able to open up a cut over the right eye of Grayton. Grayton’s pressure was much more effective in the third round and he was able to walk through the punches of Martin.

There were some very good exchanges in the opening minute of fourth round, but Martin was able to land the harder shots. Martin showed more movement in the fifth round and was able to counter while avoiding risky exchanges.

Grayton came out firing at the start of the sixth round and had Martin backing up and holding on to try to slow the assault down. Martin was able to land a few hard shots, but Grayton took them well and kept up the intense pressure. Martin looked tired at the end of the round.

Grayton was told by his corner to walk Martin down before the start of the seventh round, and he responded to his corner with a high volume of punches to the body and head of Martin. Martin just could not keep up with Grayton.

Grayton jumped on Martin at the start of the eighth and scored a knockdown with a good left hand. Martin got back to his feet but was on wobbly legs and covered up while Grayton unleashed another combination on him.

Martin wasn’t able to answer and the referee jumped in and stopped the bout.

David Grayton defeats Kareem Martin by TKO at 0:41 of the eighth round.

A swing bout between Eric Newell (8-3-3) and Wes Triplett (3-1) in the heavyweight division was also shown. Wes Triplett won it by TKO at 0:27 of the third round.

Caleb “Sweet Hands” Plant (13-0) squared off against Juan De Angel (18-4-1) in the main event of the night in the middleweight division.

Plant, a Tennessee native, established control of the center of the ring in the opening round and was able to pop shot De Angel with jabs and lead hooks. De Angel was not able to mount much of an offensive attack.

De Angel was a little more aggressive at the start of the second round, but a good left to the body by Plant quickly slowed down De Angel. Plant had De Angel backing up in the third round and his right hand was finding it’s target with regularity.

Plant’s pressure paid off in the fourth round when he scored a knockdown with a left hook to the jaw of De Angel. De Angel was able to get back up before the count of ten and was able to survive the round.

Plant looked extremely comfortable in the fifth round and was battering De Angel from corner to corner while deftly avoiding any counter shots. Plant continued to outbox De Angel in the sixth round and was never seriously threatened. He mixed up his combinations well to the body and head in the seventh round.

De Angel was in pure survival mode in the eighth round and rarely went on the offensive attack. The only question in the final two rounds of the fight was whether or not Plant could stop De Angel, but that stoppage never came.

Caleb Plant won comfortably on the judges scorecards with scores of 100-89 on all three scorecards.